Atlanta Wine School Offers Unique ‘Vinotainment’

Michael Bryan of the Atlanta Wine School decants a bottle of wine to students.

By Jonathan Copsey / STAFF

What is a vocation that you can do the rest of your life, never thinking about retirement and, sometimes, you’re not really sure if what you’re doing is work or not?
 
Michael Bryan does exactly that. He’s the director of the Atlanta Wine School in Roswell and he loves his job.

Like many of us, Bryan at one time worked in the soul-less corporate world before he made up his mind to own his own business. So on his 30th birthday he bought a staffing company in Birmingham, even though he had no idea how to run it.  

“The first year was surprisingly easy. I remember thinking ‘Why didn’t I do this earlier?’” said Bryan. “Then the second year I nearly went bankrupt… By the third year, we ended up not only turning it around, but making a massive expansion in revenue.” Bryan promptly sold the company for a massive profit in 2000, and moved back to Atlanta to get into the emerging internet world. “People seemed to be having so much fun making so much money,” he said.

Of course, that was about when the internet bubble burst.

“After eight months, everything disappeared,” said Bryan. “I was unemployed and had lost a small fortune. That kind of experience changes a person. You know the expression ‘A man looks into the abyss and finds himself?’ That was me.”

It was then, during some serious soul searching, that Bryan decided to do what he loved doing. He decided to open a wine business. Not just any wine business, mind you; a Wine school.

“I looked at wine, an interest I’ve had since college. But I never thought about it in terms of a vocation or making money from it. So I started this organization and originally began running private events, which is still the main business today.”

Bryan’s school teaches people about the joys of wine, catering to everything from the large corporate parties to the private, intimate gathering of friends. Classes are offered as well for the “wine curious.”

“This liquid is an expression of a person, a place, a culture. Wines many times are similar to their maker. So you automatically have a story,” he said. “People don’t think about wine in this way. What has made us so successful is bringing people to wine and helping them understand the practical wine as well as some esoteric things as well.”

The Atlanta Wine School’s staff excels at teaching their students about the many aspects of wine, from telling the difference between a French and a Californian Burgundy, to developing a refined palette; from helping a novice wine drinker to giving pointers to those steeped in the wine trade.  

Part education, part evangelism and part entertainment, the classes and demonstrations are part of what Bryan calls “Vinotainment,” an unparalleled wine experience for people.

“I have dedicated my life to helping people understand the psychology of wine pleasure,” said Bryan. “Wine is much more than just a social drink.”

Community education aside, Bryan is just happy to do what he does: live, breathe and above all drink wine.

“My daughter was asked what her parents do,” he said, “and she said, ‘Daddy gets paid to drink.’ I loved that. It was simply beautiful. But that’s what I do.”